I will definitely second the claim that Portland has an awesome bike scene. I dont think that one could necessarily say that riding is more popular because the city isn't as big as SF or NYC really, so it just seems like there are a sh*t load of kids on bikes. As far as the SF v. NYC battle goes, that's a tough one. I might guess that the NYC scene is a little more tightly knit, but that's just a guess.

Nas, this is an SF v. NYC thread; I definitely think there is no lack of love for Chi-town. SF roads are SO bad. I dont know what the deal is with that. We can afford to replace every freakin' parking meter in the city but cant afford to pave the main streets people ride/drive on? One thing I will definitely give props to the city on is the bike racks request hotline; call, and they'll put one wherever you want; pretty respectable. Never actually done it, but I have noticed an increase in them around the city.